Roman 'Chocolatito' Gonzalez to Defend WBC Flyweight Title Against Juan Hernandez in April
World Boxing Council flyweight champion Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez will put his title on the line on April 23 against Juan ‘Churritos’ Hernandez. The bout was officially announced as one of the undercards for the Gennady Golovkin vs. Dominic Wade bout, which will take place at the Forum in Inglewood, California.
Gonzalez, regarded as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in his class at the moment, confirmed that his next fight is scheduled for Apr. 23 via Boxingscene.com, though, it was World Boxing News that first reported that it will be against Hernandez
As it turns out, Gonzalez got who he wanted in Hernandez.
"I think I'd like to face Mexico's Churritos Hernandez because he throws a lot of combinations and would be a good fighter," said Gonzalez.
The Gonzalez vs. Hernandez showdown already gained the nod of WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman. Hernandez will be looking to deal Chocolatito his first career loss. He comes into the fight with a 30-2 record with 21 knockout victories. One of his defeats came at the hands of Kazuto Ioka of Japan, which deprived him of winning the WBC minimumweight title.
Gonzalez bared that he will buckle down to training by March 6 in Costa Rica, preparing early like the way he did for his title defense against former world champion Brian Viloria.
Gonzalez and Viloria squared off back in October, with the Nicaraguan hacking out a ninth round knockout victory over the Hawaiian Punch. The win helped Gonzalez improve to a perfect 44-0 with 38 knockout victories.
Assuming he disposes of Hernandez, Gonzalez has other fighters he would want to face next.
Among them include Juan Francisco ‘Gallo’ Estrada, the holder of the WBA/WBO world titles. However, those intentions can only bear fruit if HBO approves and sets that showdown later this year. Another fighter Chocolatito is reportedly eyeing is Kohei Kono. But to get a shot at Kono, Gonzalez will have to move up to the super flyweight division.
"I want my fourth title and I want it to be with the WBA. I want to fight Kohei Kono at 115 pounds," Gonzalez said via Boxingscene.com.
For Hernandez, the upcoming title shot is something he envisioned before facing Jesus Silvestre in September. It will be his second title shot after losing to Kazuto Ioka back in 2011 via unanimous decision.
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